Highflying Trio with NB roots to perform newfound Chamber Music, Nov. 17

November 15, 2006

Source: Mount Allison University
http://www.mta.ca/news/index.cgi?id=1157

SACKVILLE, NB — Friday, November 17 will provide a wonderful opportunity to hear rising star, pianist Julien Leblanc, performing together with violinist Isabelle Fournier, originally from Moncton, and flutist Karin Aurell, a resident of Sackville. The trio will be performing at the Brunton Auditorium in the Marjorie Young Bell Conservatory on the Mount Allison campus at 8 p.m.

New Brunswick born Acadian pianist Julien Leblanc is a much sought after soloist, chamber player, and accompanist. He performed his debut at the National Art Centre in Ottawa in April 2003, and has continued his solo career with performances in Canada, France, and England, as well as frequent radio broadcasts. In the 2006-2007 season, he is teaching at Université de Moncton, as well as being the newly appointed musician in residence at UNB in Fredericton.

Moncton native Isabelle Fournier is the winner of many prestigious awards locally and abroad, and has performed extensively throughout Canada, the USA, Europe, Japan, and Taiwan as a soloist and chamber musician. She spent several years living in London England, where she performed regularly with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields. Isabelle now makes her home in Halifax, where she teaches and performs.

Julien and Isabelle have collaborated on several projects, and for this concert they have teamed up with flutist Karin Aurell, a native of Sweden who moved to New Brunswick in 2001. Karin is a veteran orchestral player, having worked with many of the Swedish symphony orchestras. Until her move to New Brunswick, she played assistant principal flute with the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra, on Sweden’s Baltic coast. Karin is a member of new music group Motion Ensemble, and she freelances and teaches in the area.

The trio will be exploring the huge variety of sonorities and styles to be found within the context of baroque music. A newly discovered trio by French baroque composer Antoine Dornel is on the program as well as one of the trios of C.P.E. Bach, written in his very distinctive elegant style. As a centerpiece, the group will perform the C Minor trio by J.S. Bach, a piece he wrote as a gift for King Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) as part of the larger work known as the Musical Offering. This trio has all the beauty and depth we commonly associate with Bach’s sacred music.

Also on the program is a set of pieces for violin and piano by Maurice Ravel, a first performance of a set of small piano pieces by young Toronto composer Graham Flett, and the Sonatine for flute and piano by French composer Henri Dutilleux.

The public is cordially invited to attend and tickets will be sold at the door. Ticket prices for this concert are $10 for adults, $5 for students/seniors (60+), and $25 for families. Season subscriptions are also available for concert enthusiasts. For further information, please contact the department of music tel: 364-2374 (music@mta.ca).

The concert will be recorded for later broadcast use on CBC radio.

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